The Blogger Whose Postpartum Body Went Viral

Postpartum bodies are something of a secret, previously kept hidden under layers of comfortable clothes.

It wasn’t an issue that achieved much airtime, and certainly wasn’t something that most people were interested in.

In fact, the only media representations of postpartum bodies were the awe-inspiring magazine articles about celebrity mamas showing off their perfectly toned abs mere weeks after having babies. She’s lost the baby weight, doesn’t she look great!

Well, yes, she does, but not many people look like that so soon after having a baby.

What The Media Showed Us

Realistic representations of postpartum bodies just didn’t exist in the media. When the only example of postpartum bodies were flawless celebrity images in glossy magazines, it’s no wonder women ended up feeling pretty crappy about how they looked.

With a newborn baby at home, you’re likely to have a saggy tummy, a stretched out belly button and an impressive array of stretch marks snaking across your skin. And while that’s normal, not many women are aware of that.

Thanks To Social Media We’re Seeing The Truth

Thankfully, due to the rise of blogs and social media, this is now changing. Women are opening up and sharing the truth about their postpartum bodies.

The internet is being flooded with beautiful and inspiring images of new mamas rocking their postpartum bodies.

There have been a number of photography projects highlighting the beauty of postpartum bodies, and now this issue has gone viral.

Julie Bhosale – The Blogger Showing True Postpartum Beauty

Julie Bhosale, a blogger from New Zealand, shared some photographs of her postpartum body on her blog and the post went viral. As a nutritionalist, Julie is only too aware of how many people are more concerned with how they look than how they feel.

She wanted to show people what a postpartum body really looks like. She shared photographs of her tummy after the birth of her second son. The photographs were taken 24 hours, two days, one week, two weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks after the birth. The resulting blog post captures the transformation of her body in the weeks after the birth.

The images of Julie also feature her baby son. It’s a great reminder that her body has changed for a reason. Why are women’s bodies judged so harshly based simply on how they look and not what they have achieved. On her blog, Julie says:

“You live in a society that pushes images at you every day of women who have given birth and just “bounced back” – great for them (truly, that is great, Kate Middleton you are amazing!). But this is such a small minority. For most of us, our bodies change, and change a lot. It is scary, it is hard, it can be down right disgusting and upsetting but it is real and normal. Although I am a qualified health professional I am also a mother and my body has also not just ‘bounced back’. We are starting to see a shift in the media and online with more women sharing the often hidden and unspoken realities of childbirth and the effect on your bodies. So I have joined in the movement. Here is my #takebackpostpartum body blog. My real body after two children.”

‘You Are Beautiful, You Are Amazing, You Are A Mother’

The words ‘you are beautiful, you are amazing, you are a mother’’ are repeated throughout the post. That’s a great mantra for any new mama who is struggling to love her postpartum body.

Your body may be different now, it may not look exactly like it did before, but it is still beautiful. Julie asks her readers to focus on how they feel rather than how they look, an important message for new mamas who maybe need a little TLC.

The post quickly went viral, accumulating over 75,000 likes on Facebook. The post was even shared by Ashton Kutcher who said it was time to celebrate reality. It’s not hard to see why. Finally, someone was talking openly about postpartum bodies and what to expect. Mothers across the world commented with messages of love and support. Some even started joining in with the campaign. A quick search on Instagram will reveal thousands of images of proud women showing off their postpartum bodies under the hashtag #takebackpostpartum.

Recommended Reading

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate your body now that you’re a mother. Here are just five of them.

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Fiona PeacockCONTRIBUTOR

Fiona Peacock is a writer, researcher and lover of all things to do with pregnancy, birth and motherhood (apart from the lack of sleep). She is a home birth advocate, passionate about gentle parenting and is also really tired.

15 comments

i am so pleased to see a mum that is open about how we look after bub. i had so many people telling me ” you haven’t lost the baby fat yet. well no that wasn’t the issue, i had a very stretched out of shape body after my first and the second left my entire stomach area looking like something from a horror movie for 6 months after she was born. it is normal, but that’s not what people choose to believe. my own mother told me “i didn’t have that when i had you three” well i’m not her, i have a different body also my first baby was huge.. so. i’m just pleased that someone else on the net has the courage to show the reality of what a baby does to our bodies. good onya, this will bring peace of mind to many mums!!! it really is normal 😀

Thank you for the wonderful article. Indeed such is the effect of media that it defines how we think and feel about ourselves, how we view what is acceptable and to an extent it too has affected me. I been to rehashing my wardrobe just to find the best way to cover up after giving birth and yet at the end of the day, the truth was there and it could really leave you so depressed. One great thing i learned though in having two kids is to accept that having children always takes a little something from you. Its a very small price to pay when you see the life you’ve brought into the world; small price for the unmeasurable joy you feel when you are called mommy, mama, nanay…

NOPE!!! NOPE!!! NOPE!!!! >:I GENETICS, AGE and NUTRITION play a role in how and WHEN the body will bounce back from a pregnancy! In other words, just ’cause SHE looks like sh*t 14 weeks after birth doesn’t mean women who don’t look like sh*t 14 weeks after giving birth are not realistic! >:I Sick of this celebration of mediocrity as the norm! This woman didn’t have a physique worthy of the runway BEFORE, and AFTER giving birth! >:I

Hate to bust your balls Ross but I was a fit 55kg pre pregnancy had a very healthy pregnancy gained 20kgs had a 10 pound 7 oz baby and guess what? I didnt bounce back.. im at 57kgs and in fact my stomach still is a little flabby, which I’m in progress of toning 8 months pp so sometimes its just not as simple as having run way physique that will enable you to snap back post baby!

Oh really? Nutrition influences your body? And genetics? And age? Crap! The didn’t tell us that in school… Thanks for that dude. Hey man, did you know that one of the last things on most new mum’s minds is how they would look on a runway? -This article was not saying that being a model is bad, or having good genes is bad, it is just saying that it is also okay to have a different shaped body too. Different genes. Maybe a higher age. Have had a pregnancy that was not controlled by a personal trainer, or just didn’t stay skinny as it wasn’t important to them at the time. Women get so worried about their bodies; so reassuring women that their body’s are fine (like the blogger above’s body really looks healthy and fine) and that not every one looks the same is actually good, and could positively impact on outcomes for their children, as their mums are not obsession about their bodies and diets and who is fatter than them.

Just seeing the comments completely ruined this entire post. I was in great shape after having three kids but the stretch marks are always there and the skin will never go back to normal no matter how healthy i ate, if i weight trained, ran, biked, hiit, etc. It will never go away and now I have another baby and once again i have a ton of weight I couldn’t avoid gaining. After seeing this I just want to give up. I’ll never get my body back no matter how fit i get and here we see people being horrible and they wonder why moms go off the deep end and kill themselves after a baby. Bravo idiots.

I had a c-section with my first. Went into a depression because my birth didn’t go as planned. Gained a lot of weight due to many factors… being a new mom, working, going back to school, etc. It took me MONTHS to get back into shape. Unfortunately, my milk supply suffered due to my reduced fat diet and lower caloric intake. By the time I got pregnant the second time, I was much healthier. I ate better, was a fitness instructor, worked out 6 days a week. I gained the same amount of weight both pregnancies even though Baby2 was bigger than Baby1. Lost all of the weight except 12 pounds in a few weeks… 10 months later, my stomach STILL doesn’t look like it did before baby. This is partly due to getting pregnant back-to-back, but I noticed that no matter how much smaller I got pp my shape is NOT the same. I am just grateful that I have a supportive husband who loves me for me, and tells me how beautiful and sexy I am regardless of how I look. He always says, “I took part in helping you get this way, and I love you just the same.” I thank God for blessing me with a real man who knows that NONE of us, men included, look the same after major life changes. I would be miserable if I had married a little boy who thought that all women looked like the small percentage of women portrayed in media…

Guys need to understand that the females may love there original bodies but they love there partner or huby more so they chose to make a baby and the males need to shut up if there not happy with how a women looks after having a baby! My partner and i have 4 kids and yeah her body has changed but i couldnt be happier.

My beautiful ‘runway’ style mega fit size 6-8 trim toned and terrific 32 year old body is changing. I am now a healthy size 12 thank you very much. With very large breasts. And bottom. And belly. Exercise made me feel sick being pregnant this time. Rather than being an itsy bitsy barbie, I have become cloud like and graceful. I love my swollen body. I’m my baby’s mum! No matter how I shape-change I will always be my baby’s mum. I have a fabulous four year old who can testify to that, and is actually glad I have gotten bigger to be able to look after our baby growing in me. My fiance thinks my body is great fun! I have some serious bounce! Anyway… A friend described his body to me as his ‘meat puppet’ once; just a thing that you can do with what you like. So I am! I am looking after my little baby with it!

Hi ladies
…at the end of the day, when your little one looks you in the eyes and smiles at you or gives you a hug, body shape does not matter. My body has not changed much after pregnancy but there are some “reminders” left, which nicely remind me how lucky I am to have experienced pregnancy and have an amazing child. To the people, who leave nasty and not so nice comments to mothers, (who are probably single or soon to be single with an attitude like that, possibly even angry at their partners for leaving them ” not knowing why”-here is a clue), whatever opinion you have, keep it to yourself if you can not say something supportive in such a important and crucial time, do not comment. The world is sick and tired of entitled people with debilitating self-esteemes, who need their egos stroked and have a constant need to be “right”…. take a deep look in the mirror…. what do you see underneath your skin? So sad….

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